"The UPMC team helped me to feel not so anxious about what was going on and to actually enjoy my experience of childbirth because it is a beautiful thing."
Lesley developed preeclampsia during her first pregnancy. She had to deliver her son, Jaxson, at 32 weeks at a hospital over one hour from her home.
Although Lesley and her husband wanted to give Jaxson a sibling, she was worried about preeclampsia returning.
"I'd always wanted a second child," says Lesley, from Mineral County, W.Va. "But it was a fear of mine that it was going to happen again."
When she became pregnant again, she turned to UPMC Western Maryland for care.
Lesley says that the team comforted her right from the beginning. They assured her they would monitor her throughout her pregnancy and provide the care she needed.
"They reassured me that we would do everything and everything possible to make sure that if (the preeclampsia) did happen again, hopefully, it didn't happen as early," Lesley says. "And then, if it did, we would monitor it and just assess it and go from there as needed."
Because of her worry about preeclampsia, Lesley says she felt like "a ticking time bomb" throughout her pregnancy. High blood pressure is a sign of preeclampsia, so she kept track of her blood pressure and other symptoms.
Lesley says every time she contacted her care team about a question she had, they responded the same day.
"It was reassuring to have someone in the medical profession making sure that me and the baby were as healthy as possible," Lesley says.
Although Lesley did end up developing preeclampsia again, she was able to deliver her second son, Bryson, via a planned C-section at UPMC Western Maryland.
The team at UPMC Western Maryland provided excellent care throughout the labor and delivery process, Lesley says.
"They helped me to feel not so anxious about what was going on and to actually enjoy my experience more of childbirth because it is a beautiful thing," she says.
Baby Bryson spent a few days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after being born, but he was a healthy baby overall. And because UPMC Western Maryland was so close to Lesley's home, Jaxson could visit his mom and new baby brother in the hospital.
“It was really nice that Jaxon was able to come visit and see that mommy was OK. Then he wasn't worried about it," Lesley says. "And then he was able to actually be happy that his little brother was here rather than worrying about if mommy was OK."
Now, as the mother of two healthy young boys, Lesley is thankful to the team at UPMC Western Maryland.
"I would say to them just, thank you," she says. "Thanks for being there, and helping ease a lot of the anxiety I had, and being so reassuring — but also just sharing the joy of having a new child."
At UPMC Western Maryland, Life Changing Medicine means providing compassionate care for complex pregnancies.
